1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to novel phencyclidine compounds and conjugates of these compounds to proteins.
2. Discussion of the Background
1-(1'-phenylcyclohexyl)piperidine, otherwise known as phencyclidine, PCP, was originally used as an analgesic anaesthetic drug (pain-killing) for humans. It is now legally used exclusively as an animal tranquilizer due to its strong side effects, such as euphoria and hallucinations. Probably because of these side effects, PCP has become prevalent in the illicit drug market. It is often sold as "peace pill", "angel dust", "dust", "crystal", or "supergrass".
PCP is a dangerous and potent drug with lethal potential and has become a major drug abuse problem. Thus it is desirable that there be a simple accurate rapid technique for detecting the presence of PCP in physiological fluids, such as blood serum, urine and saliva.
There have been difficulties in attempting to identify PCP in physiological fluids. In one investigation (D. C. K. Lin et al., Biochem. Mass Spec., 206 (1975)) of urine from patients intoxicated by PCP, no metabolites were detected in untreated urine. However, two urinary metabolites were freed from conjugates by enzymatic hydrolysis and identified as 4-phenyl-4-piperidinocyclohexanol and 1-(1-phenylcyclohexyl)-4-hydroxypiperidine. An additional metabolite, tentatively identified as 1-phenyl-(4-hydroxycarboxyl)-4-hydroxypiperidine, was found in the urine of the rhesus monkeys after administration of PCP.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,281,065 discloses PCP conjugates to antigenic proteins and to enzymes. The conjugates are formed by bonding poly(amino acids) to the phenyl group of PCP.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,446,065 discloses oxime derivatives of PCP in which the cyclohexyl group of PCP is derivatized. The oxime derivatives are used to form protein conjugates useful in assays for PCP determinations.